Softening products are commonly used in day to day life—for example, as fabric softener products used by retail consumers or fabric softeners used on a larger scale by companies and institutions such as hotels, hospitals and so forth for items such as sheets, towels, blankets and other types of fabric and material. All major fabric softener products sold throughout the world today use a relatively toxic (to either health and/or to the environment) mix of chemicals as almost all brands contain certain ingredients derived from petrochemicals and/or quaternary ammonium compounds. Products derived from petrochemicals may be harmful since either the final mix of ingredients may contain toxic chemicals and/or the manufacture of these products also may result in the production of harmful by-products. Furthermore, all major brands of fabric softeners, even many small brands which define their products as “natural,” use quaternary ammonium compounds. Those calling themselves as natural may derive the quaternary ammonium compounds from natural sources.
Quaternary ammonium compounds have been associated with numerous health problems: allergies, asthma, respiratory issues, contact dermatitis, etc. Numerous references discuss the health risks associated with quaternary ammonium compounds, including references from the Environmental Working Group, which ranks quaternary ammonium compounds with its lowest rating (an F), which it defines as “Highest Concern” “Potentially significant hazards to health or the environment” with “High Concern Skin Allergies & Irritation” and “High Concern Environment” “ . . . potential for skin irritation/allergies/damage; acute aquatic toxicity; respiratory effects”. See http://www.ewg.org/guides/substance_groups/39. Further, the Environmental Working Group has stated that “Quaternary ammonium compounds (“quats”) . . . , found in antibacterial spray cleaners and fabric softeners, can cause asthma.” See http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/content/findings.
Furthermore, a type of quaternary ammonium compound called Quaternium-15 has been listed as an allergen under the U.S. FDA approved patch test (T.R.U.E. Test® http://www.truetest.com/commonallergens.aspx) and by the European Society of Contact Dermatitis (http://www.escd.org/aims/standard_series/European_Standard.pdf). A prevalent theory of allergies is that if someone is allergic to one chemical, they may have cross reactions to related chemicals, therefore someone allergic to the known allergen Quaternium-15 may be allergic to other quaternary ammonium compounds.
Given that conventional softening products typically contain quaternary ammonium compounds which are associated with health and environmental issues, and given that on top of this many products also contain toxins related to petrochemicals, there is a need for natural softening products which contain neither quaternary ammonium compounds nor contain toxins related to petrochemicals.